British twin girls, 16, feared to have joined Isis extremists in Syria

COUNTER-TERRORISM officers have been brought in after 16-year-old twin sisters were feared to have joined extremists in Syria.

Two teenage twin sisters are believed to have travelled to Syria from Manchester to join Isis[GETTY/REX]

It is understood the girls travelled to the war-torn country after an elder brother, believed to be an Jihadi fighter, went out there.

The twins, thought to be originally from Somalia, are feared to have answered a call for from terror networks operating in Syria and Iraq, such as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) - an al-Qaeda splinter group.

Officers from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) are still trying to trace the girls - 11 days after their disappearance was reported by their worried family.

The girls slipped out of their beds in the middle of the night as their parents slept and flew from Manchester Airport to Istanbul in Turkey.

The twin's parents discovered they were missing when they went into their room at 8am on the morning after their mid-night escape.

Their shock turned to alarm when they called the girls' sixth form college to see if they had gone in early - and were told they had not turned up at all.

Police were informed and soon found that the girls' passports and some belongings had gone missing from their home.

GMP is not releasing details of where in Manchester the girls live in case it jeopardises the safety of their family.

A spokesman said: "On Thursday, June 26, Greater Manchester Police received a report that two 16-year-old girls were missing from their home in Manchester.

"The girls flew from Manchester International Airport to Turkey.

"Since their departure the girls have been in contact with their family.

"We are attempting to confirm their current location and secure the well being of both girls.

"Officers are also providing regular support to the family."

If the girls have travelled to Syria to join Isis fighters, it is thought they would be the youngest of the hundreds of Britons who have been seduced into joining jihadi groups in the region.

Questions are being raised over how they paid for the trip, with concerns that it may have been funded by terrorist recruiters.

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